In 1979, three years after the establishment of the Yishuv, a strong commitment to continued growth and development in spite of day-to-day hardships and security threats, led to a decision to establish a public library in Kedumim.
The library was opened in a small 120 sq. ft. room, with 300 used books collected from the homes of the residents. The library was run for many years on a volunteer basis, energetically and with much imagination, meriting government recognition for its high readership.
Over the years, in spite of economic and security hardships, the library grew, expanding its inventory of books, establishing new departments, offering varied media to the community, and increasing its membership (far beyond the national readership.)
As of now, the library offers over 23,000 items including:
· children's, youth and adult books in Hebrew, English and Russian
· a reference library covering Judaism, Land of Israel, History, Literature, Sociology and more.
· video films and DVDs on loan.
· periodicals for children and adults.
The library also offers 4 internet stations for public use, as well as two children's game rooms. The library sponsors a wide variety of cultural activities including children's story hours for elementary school age and preschool children, meetings with authors, plays for children and adults, language study-groups (Russian and Arabic) and lectures.
The library also serves special groups, such as National Service volunteers in the Yishuv, soldiers serving in the area, residents of neighboring settlements, senior citizens, the physical challenged, visually impaired, hearing impaired and local special-education facilities.
During these times of continued stress and security threats on the roads, residents tend to travel less in the evenings and depend more and more on the library to provide for study needs, and as a cultural center, second in importance only to the synagogues.
After many changes of location due to insufficient space, the library is now situated in the old synagogue building, in the central neighborhood of Kedumim.
